Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #35 ( Dark Horse / Miller / Ching / Atyier)
“At long last, Knights of the Old Republic will conclude Zayne’s long journey as a fugitive Jedi Padawan-but not before an astounding climax that will set a brand-new path for him to follow!
Zayne and his former Master, Lucien Draay, will be tempted by the dark side while the Jedi Knights war among themselves and the city-planet Coruscant burns around them.
The final showdown!”
Yes, I know this book is weeks old. But like Eric said before, the holidays are hitting ThePullbox pretty hard. In fact, I don’t have a single weekend in December at my own home. Fuuuun!
“At long last” is right! This story arc has been going on for almost 3-years. Boy, what a ride this has been. There has been nary an issue of KOTOR that I put the “filler” label on. Yes, I know I called the Haazen issue filler, but one out of 35 ain’t bad.
The first story of Zayne Carrick has come to a close, but not the one I was expecting. I was thinking that Zayne would bust the conspiracy wide open and then be honored by the Jedi council. Not the case! Yes, our heroes did bring to light evils of the universe to light, but Zayne refuses knighthood. Seeing the flaws in the workings of the council, Zayne decides to go into business with Gryph. Hitting only the “bad guys”, they will continue to give the underworld there just desserts.
Miller closes this mega arc like a true pro. The dialog and character motivations have been nursed along to an apex that closes with flare. I loved how we saw this loser of a padawan move from someone who needed his bacon pulled from the fire to a full-fledged hero. The Force still works very strangely for Zayne, but that’s part of what makes him interesting.
Brian Ching finishes what he started in KOTOR with an evolution in his artistic style. If you go back to his first issues on KOTOR, then look at issue #35, you can see the growth that has happened. I know he’s leaving the book, but I look forward to his other projects.
Grade: A
